


Demon's Flowers

by Kuro_Masque



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Fluff, M/M, Neberus isn't mine she belongs to the lovely Megan Draws
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 21:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7730194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuro_Masque/pseuds/Kuro_Masque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Demon Ink's greatest tattoo artist finds himself falling for Funtom's Flowers cutest worker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Demon's Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Neberus is not my original character. She belongs solely to Megan_Draws, who kindly gave me permission to use her. Please, check out her wonderful artwork of Kuroshitsuji.

“Is that him?”

“Shut up.”

“He’s cute, I’ll give you that. Definitely not my type, but I can see why you like him.”

“Neberus, _please._ ”

“I’m gonna go talk to him.”

“ _Neberus!”_

 Neberus chuckled, crossing her tattooed arms with designs she had specifically come up herself. She poked Sebastian’s forehead.

“Seb, it’s ok to like someone. What’s not ok is staring at said someone through the window like some lovesick puppy.”

Sebastian pouted, turning away. “I’m not lovesick.” He mumbled.

“Alright, not lovesick, stalker-like.”

“Neberus!”

If anyone has chosen to walk into _Demon Ink,_ best tattoo parlor in the city, they would’ve seen Neberus Drako grabbing Sebastian Michaelis in a headlock, and probably would’ve walked out. In all honesty, his was a normal, lazy day for _Demon Ink,_ and normal behavior from both Neberus and Sebastian, the shop’s best artists,

Neberus was a legend, able to create works that were so incredibly detailed and lifelike, people swore they saw them moving. She had made a reputation with her art, with her customers, and her take-no-shit attitude. Tattoos snaked around her body, designs made by her and only her.

Sebastian wasn’t just a regular tattoo artist either. Neberus’s protégé and apprentice, he was just as talented as his teacher, some arguing that he was better. Tribal tattoos wrapped around his arms all the way to his navel, complements to Neberus herself.

Sebastian was tough enough to take the pain of those tattoos. He was tough enough to occasionally fight with Neberus and get out alive. Sebastian Michaelis was tough.

But apparently, not tough enough to talk to the cute owner of _Funtom’s Flowers,_ Ciel Phantomhive. Funtom was _Demon Ink_ ’s new neighbors, having been there for about a month now. Although small, the flower shop was always plentiful on customers.

“Ow! Neberus! Let go!” Sebastian managed to get himself away, trying to fix his messed up hair. Neberus playfully punched him.

“Look, Sebastian, you need to toughen up and ask the guy out. What’s the worst he can do?”

Sebastian huffed, looking away. “He can say no. Neb, he’s so… I mean… Look, the guy runs a flower shop. If he even liked guys, which is highly doubtful, he probably liked guys that are romantics and read books and stuff like that.”

“Don’t be like that. You like books.”

“That’s not the point!” Sebastian yelled, then crossed his arms, sitting down on one of the chairs. “Look, Neb, I run a tattoo shop with you, have tattoos all over my arms that have more than once been called demonic, and I scare anyone that looks at me wrong. I might… I might scare him, Neberus. I don’t want that.” He looked down, his voice dropping to a quiet murmur.

A gentle hand pushed his hair away from his forehead, lightly caressing it. He looked up, Neberus smiling kindly at him. “You don’t scare me, Seb.”

Sebastian blushed; compliments from his mentor were a rare thing to hear. Neberus chuckled.

“And look, there’s no harm in just checking out the shop. You can even buy some flowers to use them for references.” She flicked his forehead. “Just talking to him doesn’t mean you’re marrying the guy. Now scoot.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened. “What, now?”

“No, in 50 years. Now, idiot!” Neberus grabbed Sebastian by the back of his shirt, hauling him out the door and tossing him out. “Be sure to buy me some roses, alright?” She shut and locked the door quickly, ignoring Sebastian’s pounding on the door as she flipped the **_Open_** sign to **_Closed._** She sat down on one of the chairs near the window, peeking at the flower shop. This wasn’t something that Neberus wanted to miss.

Sebastian made a face, ceasing his pounding on the door. He knew Neberus was right. If he ever wanted to get a coffee with Ciel, he’d at least have to make an effort to talk to him. He walked slowly to the flower shop, remembering the first time they met, a few months before.

 _Funtom’s Flowers_ had just opened up next door, and Sebastian had stepped outside for a smoke. Someone else stepped out a few minutes later, carrying a huge pot of flowers before setting them beside the door. Sebastian had already lit his cigarette, occupied with his phone.

“Oh, hello. You must be Sebastian, correct?”

Sebastian was used to having his reputation brought up before anyone ever actually introduced themselves to him. He was, after all, one _hell_ of a tattoo artist, a pun he had shared with Neberus and had made her smack him. Anyway, usually his reputation made other people very jealous, and he had been in more fights that he could count. It was normal for him to give anybody that tried to talk to him a onceover. However, when he looked towards the source of the voice, he nearly choked, his eyes widening.

A guy of 20, a _very cute_ boy of 20, stood in front of Sebastian, giving him a small smile. An eyepatch concealed his right eye, but his other eye was the most beautiful shade of blue Sebastian had ever seen. Messy, dark hair covered his head, yet not so messy that it looked unclean. He was shorter than Sebastian, one might even say petite. He wore an apron bearing _Funtom’s Flowers_ , and very old, ripped jeans. He stuck his hand out.

“I’m Ciel, Ciel Phantomhive. I guess we’re neighbors.” He gave Sebastian another smile, though this one seemed a thousand times sweeter.

Sebastian did actually choke this time, accidentally inhaling the smoke the wrong way from his cigarette. He coughed, dropping his cigarette on the floor and bending over, clutching his chest as he hacked.

“Oh my god!” Ciel smacked Sebastian’s back, thumping it. After a few seconds of wheezing, Sebastian cleared his throat, his eyes watery. He gave off a small groan.

Gentle hands cupped his face, and Sebastian found himself staring at the worried face of Ciel, who was biting his adorable pink lip.

“Are you alright?”

If it were even possible, Sebastian was sure Ciel would have fucking sparkles all around him. He looked like something out of an anime.

“U-uh…”

“I’ll go get you some water!” Ciel turned to his shop, but Sebastian’s hand shot out, holding his wrist,

“N-no! I’m fine.” Fat lie. Sebastian’s usual purr of a voice sounded like a chainsaw. But he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want Ciel to leave, not yet. He cleared his throat again, then gave Ciel a small smile. “I’m fine.” He stood upright. “Sorry about that… that usually doesn’t happen.”

“Well, maybe it’s a sign to stop smoking. No more brushes with death if you quit.”

Sebastian chuckled, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it. “Oh, I don’t know. I quite like flirting with death.” He gave a wink to Ciel, furrowing his brows when he noticed Ciel’s grimace at the white and yellow stick, “What’s wrong? Don’t like the smoke?”

“I have asthma.”

Sebastian dropped the cigarette, stepping on the offending stick to extinguish it.

“Sorry.” Sebastian could feel himself blush out of embarrassment.

Ciel smiled softly, head tipping to the side. “It’s ok.”

Ciel was seriously cute. Cuter than anybody Sebastian had dated, that’s for sure.

“Well, I’d better get back inside. We’re still moving stuff around, so…” Ciel shrugged, then chuckled. “If you ever need any flowers, we’re next door. See you around.” And with that, Ciel left, leaving a smitten Sebastian in the alleyway.

In the weeks following, Sebastian was the epitome of a love-struck fool, gazing wistfully at the window to catch a glimpse of the petite boy. He was always smiling, always doodling new, cutesy, and quite frankly, disgusting according to Neberus, designs. He probably would’ve stayed like this until Neberus popped the big question.

“So, when are you going to ask him out?”

Glass seemed to shatter. That perfect, love-struck fool was replaced by a mopey, 26-year-old man who thought that the boy in the flower shop was too good to be asked out.

Sebastian knew he’d be here, one way or another. He was slightly thankful that Neberus made him go alone; she’d probably keep hinting at Sebastian’s crush until it was blatantly obvious that Sebastian liked Ciel.

Before he knew it, Sebastian stood in front of the entrance to _Funtom’s Flowers_ , hesitating to push open the door. He could faintly see a silhouette, petite and spritzing water onto a plant.

 _To hell with it._ He pushed open the door, a bell jingling.

“Welcome to Funtom’s flowers, how can I- Oh! Hello, Sebastian.” Ciel had turned to face Sebastian, and was giving him a sunny smile. Sebastian fought the urge to take him in his arms.

“U-uh… hey, Ciel.” _Ok, this was fine. Normal conversation happening at the moment._

“What brings you here?” Ciel adjusted some tulips in a vase nearby, looking like a type of housewife. Sebastian’s mind went blank.

“You.”

“Pardon?”

_ABORT ABORT ABORT THE FUCKING MISSION_

“Y-yellow roses! That’s what I’m looking for… Neberus wanted some.” Sebastian chuckled nervously. Ciel’s face seemed to fall, but before Sebastian could completely process it, Ciel smiled again.

“Alright. A dozen will be 15, and 6 is 7.50.” Ciel reached into his back pocket, pulling out shears.

“6 is fine, thanks. Uh… can you throw in a red rose there?”

“No problem.” Ciel walked to where a bunch of roses were, using the shears and cutting at the stems. Soon, he had 5 yellow roses, and one red rose. “There you go. Let me just ring you up.” Just as he reached the register, he tripped, the bouquet of roses flying.

It was all slow motion for Sebastian. The instant Ciel tripped, Sebastian stood in front of him, arms wrapping around Ciel and stopping his descent as Ciel crashed into his chest.

“Thanks.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah… I’m fine.”

“Good to hear.”

“Uh, Sebastian?”

“Yes?”

“You can let go of me now.”

“Oh!”

Immediately, Sebastian let him go, Ciel standing upright. Sebastian’s heart thudded in his chest, cheeks flushing. Ciel only gave him a small smile, though Sebastian was oblivious to the way his cheeks flushed the softest of pink. Ciel picked up the fallen roses, then walked to the register.

“Thanks again for catching me. Now, let’s wrap these up.”

After wrapping the roses, Ciel punched some numbers onto the register, then handed the roses to Sebastian. “That’ll be 7.50. I’m sure Neberus will love these. How long have you been together?”

Sebastian almost dropped his wallet, sputtering and shaking his head fervently. “No! No, she and I are just friends. We’re not dating.”

Ciel furrowed his eyebrows. “Oh… I thought… since you’re buying the roses for her…”

“I’m gay.” Sebastian blurted out.

“Oh.”

Sebastian could feel his heart sink at that “Oh.” This was a mistake. It seemed as though Ciel didn’t even like guys. He shouldn’t have come; he never even had a chance in the first place. He looked away, ashamed.

“I’m gay too.”

Sebastian’s attention snapped back to Ciel, who only shrugged.

“Not that big of a deal for me. Since I don’t want to lose customers, I try to keep my life private.”

“Oh.”

Ciel sighed, then gave him a small smile. “Well, if these flowers aren’t for Neberus, then who’re they for?” He gave Sebastian the bouquet.

Sebastian was silent for a second, then reached into the bouquet, pulling the red rose out. His gaze met Ciel’s as he gave him the rose.

“I… this one’s for you.”

Ciel took the rose delicately, handling it like a precious jewel. His uncovered eye widened. Sebastian swallowed.

“I read somewhere… that red roses meant love.” Sebastian said quietly.

Ciel was silent, then spoke. “Sebastian, what’re you trying to say?”

“I… I like you a lot, Ciel. Since we met. And if it’s not too much trouble… would you like to have dinner with me? If… If not, then- “

“Yes.”

Sebastian, who had turned away in embarrassment, snapped his attention back to Ciel, eyes wide.

“W-What?” He stuttered out weakly.

I’d love to go on a date with you, Sebastian.” Ciel gave him a small, shy smile. “I’m off tomorrow. We can figure something out. But in case you want to talk about it later…” He grabbed a pen, then took Sebastian’s hand, scribbling on it. “My number.” He let go, though Sebastian wished he could hold his hand longer.

The bell at the door chimed, signaling a customer. Ciel winked at Sebastian. “Back to work.” He left the register, walking towards a couple in the front. “Welcome to Funtom’s Flowers. How can I help you?”

Sebastian, unnoticed by the couple, took the roses, walking past them and noticing Ciel tucking his rose in his short hair. He smiled, the door jingling as he left.

Yes, while Neberus wouldn’t stop insulting his goofy smile for the rest of the day, it was all worth it for Sebastian.

_3 weeks later_

“So, you didn’t show up last night.”

“Just because we’re roommates, Neb, doesn’t mean that I’m going to spend every night there.”

“Where did you spend the night then? And why the hell are you wearing a scarf in the sho- oh.”

“…”

“No way.”

“Neberus…”

“It’s about time! Let me see!”

“Neberus!”

“No wonder Ciel was walking funny in the shop! Oh my god, was it good?”

“Neberus, please!”

“Look, look. Ciel’s wearing a scarf too! You both- “

“Neb! “

“I’m calling everyone to tell them the news.”

_“Neberus!”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
